Whether the Phantom Thief? In a world with a massive smart-device and web-connected-camera, LLM Fueled panopticon, what place is there for the “Leaving a note in advance of the (ultimately successful) theft Phantom Thief”? That’s not just me commenting on the current state of the world, that’s what Lupin III Part V is about. Considering this came out in 2018, this makes it feel weirdly prescient.
Read more
Samurai Troopers, or as it was known when it aired on Toonami back in the day – Ronin Warriors, was a show I was aware of, but didn’t get a chance to watch as much of as I would have liked as a kid.
Read moreBeen a while since I actually reviewed an Isekai series – time to look at one of the better animated ones of the past few years.
You can find where the series is available for streaming through JustWatch:
‘Solecism’ by Scott Buckley – released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au
Please support my Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/countzeroor
Buy me a coffee at Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/countzero
Watch my Live-Streams on http://twitch.tv/countzeroor
Check out my Let’s Plays at https://www.youtube.com/@CountZeroOrPlays
This month, for White Day, we’re looking at the Shojo fantasy romance series “Yona of the Dawn”
Next month, we’re watching the first season of Pop Team Epic. You can find where that’s available for streaming on JustWatch: https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/pop-team-epic/season-1
Donut by Anozira
Bandcamp Link: https://anoziramusic.bandcamp.com/track/donut
Used with permission
Please support my Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/countzeroor
Buy me a coffee at Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/countzero
Watch my Live-Streams on http://twitch.tv/countzeroor
Check out my Let’s Plays at https://www.youtube.com/@CountZeroOrPlays
Steamboy is a film that started with monumental expectations. It was Katsuhiro Otomo’s first non-anthology film since Akira. It was his first project that basically didn’t begin its life as a manga. It took 10 years to make. It was, at the time, the most expensive anime film to make (having begun its life as a planned OVA, with 3 40-minute episodes). It was set up for failure and didn’t disappoint. I’ve finally watched it, and even with greatly tempered expectations, I didn’t go away happy.
Read more
Fateuary has come again, so it’s time to discuss Unlimited Blade Works!
(Minor technical note, a bunch of my audio got dropped due to poor mike placement on my end. That said, most of my contributions to the conversation were moderation, so you should be able to hear what Tora & David have to say without any issues.)
News Links:
Next month, we’ll be watching Yona of the Dawn. You can find where that is available for streaming on JustWatch: https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/yona-of-the-dawn
Donut by Anozira
Bandcamp Link: https://anoziramusic.bandcamp.com/track/donut
Used with permission
Please support my Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/countzeroor
Buy me a coffee at Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/countzero
Watch my Live-Streams on http://twitch.tv/countzeroor
Check out my Let’s Plays at https://www.youtube.com/@CountZeroOrPlays
It’s interesting looking at Cat’s Eye in the context of various 80s revival series like the Rumiko Takahashi revivals. Those series kept the setting in the original time, while lightly modernizing some of the more off-color jokes. Cat’s Eye – a heist series – also tones down some of the off color humor, while also leaving the core premise unchanged (Charlie’s Angels but Heists, and not wearing masks), and moving the series to the present day. That last bit is where the series starts to run into trouble.
Read more
In the Fall 2025 Season, we got an example of the genre of anime that I’d describe as “metatexual works about making anime and manga”. That series, A Mangka’s Weirdly Wonderful Workplace, isn’t as instructive or informative on how the industry works as other shows and manga series, like Monthly Girl’s Nozaki-kun, but it also avoids the self-indulgent pitfalls of Western works about how dramatic pieces of art get made. This makes for a series where a lot of the jokes just work, and it’s generally a fun experience.
Read moreAnother Anime Review this week, with a look at the Steampunk series Princess Principal.
Find out where Princess Principal is available for streaming on JustWatch:
Princess Principal is available on Blu-Ray from (Affiliate Links):
‘Solecism’ by Scott Buckley – released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au
Please support my Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/countzeroor
Buy me a coffee at Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/countzero
Watch my Live-Streams on http://twitch.tv/countzeroor
Check out my Let’s Plays at https://www.youtube.com/@CountZeroOrPlays
I take a look at a couple of seasons of Anime that I’ve completely overlooked on this channel.
You can check the streaming availability of Call of the Night here:
Physical Releases of Call of the Night are available from (Affiliate Links):
This month, for Lunar New Year, we’re watching the first half (episode 1-12) of the K-Drama adaptation of Boys Over Flowers.
The other Isekai anime I took a look at in the Fall 2025 season was My Status as an Assassin Obviously Exceeds the Hero’s, or “My Status as an Assassin” for short. This one was much more conventional in terms of an Isekai anime, but it handles its characterization and worldbuilding much more reasonably.
Read more
I’ve been generally keeping clear of Isekai anime the last few years, also with a lot of fantasy series based on light novels. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t because those series were frequently crap. When I saw May I Ask For One Final Thing come up on the list of upcoming anime, along with one other show I’ll get to later, it seemed like a good time to put my toe back in. I’d say this was something of a pleasant surprise.
Read more
There’s a quote from Kurt Vonnegut where the end of it sticks in my brain, in a good way: “Goddamnit, you’ve got to be kind.” The final season of My Hero Academia (to a degree, also the previous season), I feel, builds up to that quote being the core message of the series. There will be spoilers.
Read more
My 2025 Anime New Year’s Resolutions didn’t quite work out according to plan. Some of this was on me in terms of scheduling – I could probably have slipped Golden Boy in pretty much anywhere (and I’m writing this in 2025, so I still might slip it in). Others less so, as for example, I’d put the first season of Mushi-shi on my list, only for the license to have expired by the time October came around, or for A Silent Voice only to be available on HBO Max. So, I’ve learned my lesson and will be dialing back my resolutions this year to 6, which I’ll try to do across podcasting and personal viewing.
Read more
This month, indeed tomorrow, if this goes up as scheduled, the Anime Explorations Podcast episode where we’ll be discussing Robot Carnival will go live. Appropriately enough, among the options I received for this year’s Anime Secret Santa was Short Peace, the fourth, and as of today, final anime anthology film that Katsuhiro Otomo has been involved in, coming after Memories. So, it felt right to choose that film as my pick for this year.
Read more
Earlier this year, around Halloween, I did a group-watch with some friends of the anime OVA series Vampire Princess Miyu. I also apparently completely forgot to put a review up at the time – time to fix that.
Read moreI’m taking a look at a recent romantic dramedy anime set partly during the Pandemic – Anyway, I’m Falling In Love With You.
This month we’re discussing the 4th and 5th films in the Garden of Sinners series (probably the strongest films in the series so far).
Read more
I’ve talked before on blog posts and on podcasts that I do the unspeakable act of watching anime with my parents. Now, I don’t watch everything – we get together a couple times a week, and I carefully pick the shows we watch, but sometimes we watch things that are fanservice adjacent. My Dress Up Darling was one of them. As my dad majored in Geology, I figured Ruri Rocks would be a good fit as well. I was correct.
Read more
Nichijou was an anime that got me and my family through the overwhelming tension of the 2019-2020 Oregon wildfires. When I learned that City, another manga from the same creator, was getting an anime adaptation this year, it became an immediate addition to my watchlist. I was not disappointed.
Read more
This month we’re discussing the horror comedy(?) anime Mieruko-Chan.
Read more
Anne of Green Gables was a part of my life for a significant chunk of my childhood without having read the book. The Anne of Green Gables TV series and its sequel, Avonlea, was ever present when I was growing up. So, when we got a new anime adaptation of some of the early novels, titled Anne Shirley, I had a real “Why not?” moment, and added the series to my watchlist.
Read more
